Start Time Review

After gathering and providing more information about school start and end time options and their impacts, the district made a survey available to parents, students, employees, and community members. The survey, which opened in May, asked respondents to share potential positive aspects of and concerns about the two school start and end time options that the ISD 199 School Start and End Time Review Committee identified as practical: the current schedule of 7:40 AM – 2:30 PM for secondary schools and 8:30 AM – 3:10 PM for elementary, and a flipped schedule of 8:30 AM – 3:20 PM for secondary schools and 7:50 AM – 2:30 PM for elementary schools. The survey revealed that the community prioritized student sleep and schedules for child care, work, and activities. After considering these results, the committee is recommending that the ISD 199 School Board consider the flipped schedule for the start of the 2019-2020 school year.

Based on the district’s total population of parents, students, and employees, less than 14% of all possible parent, student, and employee respondents participated in the Community Perspectives on School Start/End Time Options survey. Of the respondents, most were parents of elementary school students. The committee discussed the survey results before deciding to recommend that the district implement the flipped schedule and build a transition plan to help families and staff adjust in the year leading up to the change.

Before the school board makes a final decision on whether to approve the flipped schedule, the board is considering the committee’s recommendation as well as the survey’s results, and it will hold a listening session to gather any community comments. A final board vote on the school start and end time decision for 2019-2020 is anticipated at the September or October board meeting.